Saturday, October 15, 2016

Los Galgos de Sendo

Sendo's Greyhounds
I'm a big fan of Sendo García. A true enamoured fan of his pencil sketches, perspective, both in still frames and ones filled with movement.
However, for as much as I admire his gift and for celebrated as he is, there's an important detail I can't forgive him for. It's his depiction greyhounds. While examining his work a the last exposition, "40 Years of Movement and Aggression," put on by The Town Hall of Astorga and Friends of Casa Panero, I was distressed to see the up close rendition of what I had most eagerly hoped to see, the greyhound in motion. I was terribly disappointed.

While all the greyhounds he sketched and painted were indeed, in thrilling motion, the exhilaration for anyone who has ever been with greyhounds suddenly fades as soon as one looks at the faces and teeth of Sendo's greyhounds. All of them are seen with fierce, cruel faces. Sendo's greyhounds are an ugly distortion of the true nature of the breed, even during the hunt. It's not just a determination you see in their eyes, the joy of the chase, of the hunt, but the barred and sharp teeth of killers. The normal result is that any person, especially a child, visiting the exposition would sadly leave unjustly horrified by greyhounds, perhaps forever.

One who knows the breed knows that greyhounds are not like lions or other carnivorous animals who capture their prey in order to tear their flesh into shreds. On the contrary, greyhounds have been valued for thousands of years as a hunting dog because they simply catch their prey, never ripping or shredding it apart. They are by nature calm, with a gentle nature.

The truth is that greyhounds dazzle with their agility or ability to race and to outrun their prey. Then when they catch it they simply shake the hunted animal leaving it in prime condition, the meat unbruised and ready for the kitchen, perfect for any king's meal.

If you have never watched a greyhound run, there is nothing in the world comparable with the beauty and emotion of the experience. It's exhilaration in its purest form. Greyhounds run when they are happy and they enjoy when they run. And when they are still they are sweet. Never do greyhounds show the ferocity or cruelty that Sendo's has drawn and painted.